Keller @ Large: Don't Let David Ortiz Retire
BOSTON (CBS) - Following the news closely over the weekend, one thing became clear to me – David Ortiz cannot be allowed to retire.
Ortiz has announced that this season will be his last, and while he certainly has the right to step away from his illustrious career at a time of his own choosing, it has become obvious this would leave a yawning void in civilization as we know it.
Let's start with the prosaic reasons – the man is still a superb baseball player. He leads the team in batting average, home runs, runs batted in, and on-base percentage, whatever that is. He is tied for first in the majors in doubles, eighth in slugging percentage, whatever THAT is.
He is the heart and soul of the team along with Dustin Pedroia. And I see no reason why he couldn't continue to perform at this level for another year or two, if only we could persuade him to.
Beyond all that, the story of Ortiz promising the little boy with health issues he would hit a homer for him against the Yankees on Friday, and then delivering, is a priceless example of the kind of morale boost he provides to us, individually and collectively.
The man wears his heart on his sleeve, and his caring nature always rings true.
So I am issuing a call to action to all Bostonians.
It's time to barrage Big Papi's mailbox with respectful begging. If all 961,000 of his Twitter followers sent him a similar message (@davidortiz), I bet it would have an impact.
The presidential candidate who can persuade him to stay will have my vote and, I suspect, millions of others.
As Ortiz would say, this is our (throat clearing) city.
And we need him to stay to keep it that way.
Listen to Jon's commentary: